Wednesday, January 20, 2010

FRAPS Test of Blender Interface

As I mentioned in my previous post, I just found the FRAPS shareware online and downloaded it for doing screen captures to support my book project. I also noted that the software supports games using OpenGL technology, which meant that - perhaps - it would also support Blender video captures as Blender is OpenGL API-based software. Previous attempts with Camtasia proved less than satisfactory at doing Blender video captures, so I thought I would give it a try. And here is what I got:

Although the shareware version only supports 30-second video captures, I was extremely impressed with the quality of the capture and the audio track. I did this particular capture at half-size 30 fps, although FRAPS allows a user to go up to 60 fps with a full-size capture. I felt a little pressed to explain everything regarding the tower and how I see it fitting into the game withing the alloted 30 seconds, so I just may shell out the $37 for the full unlocked version in the near future.

As for the tower itself, I envision the passage through the tower being the insertion point into the game level, with the pedestrian zone connected to one end of the passage and the other exit being blocked by a car. This would naturally entice the player to move forward into the pedestrian zone without giving him or her the sense of being forced into this direction. I am nearly finished with the texture map for the tower and will then move on to making bump maps for it. When these are finally done, I will do a turnaround render and move on to the next model.

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About The DigiBahn Project

My research interests address how immersive digital game environments can be leveraged to teach humanities topics and to assist in the second language acquisition process. My current research project focuses on using narrative structures in first-person 3D computer games as a means of organizing and communicating sociocultural knowledge in support of second language acquisition.